Ratchathewi

Plane to Bangkok

It was definitely the biggest plane I can remember flying on, which isn't saying much but I was still fascinated by the in flight entertainment, the meals that were served, and the packet load of free stuff. I started the flight watching out the window tracking where I was on the map and seeing if I could pick out the cities. Soon after, dinner was served which was way better than I had expecting, with Alfie going for the pasta whereas I went for the scrumptious meatloaf. Then, taking full advantage of the screen, I queued up Tarantino's Django Unchained which I'm mightly glad I did as it was a brilliant film. After that, I queued up David Attenborough's Green Planet (I thought it was only Blue to be honest) and within minutes I was dead asleep. 3 hours later I was awoken to the sound of breakfast being served and sunlight pouring through the window. Though not as tasty as the dinner I was still glad. Not long after, we had landed in Bangkok at 10am local time. This plane was definitely more touristy than our first, which was proven when the clapping started as we landed.

After getting through security and collecting Alfie's bag (what a schmuck), we took the very cheap and convenient public sky train into Bangkok, where our first mission was to source a SIM for cheap ASAP. We had learnt our lesson from Istanbul. From the moment we left the train not only the heat but the humidity hit us. The air was so thick you could drink from it if you tried hard enough. It was also relatively cool for Thailand at 31° so ditching the trousers and fleeces were probably a good idea. Making our way to one of Bangkok's many mega malls, we found our way to an AIS shop and asked about the 900 Baht 50GB SIM we wanted. Unfortunately, they didn't do that deal. Fortunately, they had a much better deal. Double the data AND half the price. 4x as good as we were hoping for. After asking many questions to make sure we weren't being set up for an elaborate rouse, we were set up with our SIM. Double win!

We couldn't check into the hostel until 2 so we found some lunch, and although probably a little pricy for Bangkok, I still had a fairly cheap and most definitely the yummiest mixed seafood Pad Thai. Pulling out tentacles and assorted things with chopsticks I hadn't used in months, I was starting to really get to like Bangkok. A small walk later we were at our hostel and my first priority was to shower and change out of my sweaty clothes into some fresh clothes, donning some shorts instead of my Temple trousers I had been wearing for 4 days straight. All cleaned up and settled in we took an hour planning all the things we wanted to do in Bangkok over the next few days. However, we hadn't slept much so today was gonna be an easy day and an early night (I say writing this at 1am).

It just so happened that today was Chinese New Year's which also so happens to be quite big in Bangkok, so many shops and streets were dressed in Chinese New Years atire, with dragons around most corners. This meant Alfie had found us a show in a park to celebrate at 7.30pm so we had a few hours to kill first. First mission was to find Crocs, which we did (eventually after I navigated us to the wrong super mall) but they were just as expensive. We were now going to find some cheaper knock offs in the night market after the show. After walking around Bangkok's largest and oldest park (Lumphini Park) - seeing numerous joggers, dancers, and even the Bangkok Orchestra performing - we grabbed a metro to Benchasiri Park just in time for the show.

What followed was (wait as I totally simplify it) a beautifully choreographed display of dancing, acrobatics, and music - backed by a rave-like light show - coming to a crescendo of a dragon breathing sparklers. After that it was time to hop back on the sky train as we head to the Pratunam Night Market - a wonderful mixture of food stalls and knock off merch. That just so happened to be exactly what we needed: some munch and some crocs. After a while of finding our bearings in the maze-ness of stalls, we try our hand at haggling and end up not buying any crocs, any temple trousers for Alfie, any temple shirts BUT I brought myself a nice light shirt which "Alfie wouldn't wear himself" but I'm extremely excited to melt slightly less in it tomorrow. We grabbed some cheap street food where we head back to the hostel and get ready for bed. I opted for a 2nd shower where I forgot my towel which was a fun problem to solve.

Having no solid plans for tomorrow but alot of things on the list, I'm ready to pass out.Read more